Featured as a BBC Introducing artist-of-the-week earlier this year, it’s fair to say Angus Powell is blessed with a bit of classic Welsh musicality. Upside Down, one of a selection of taster tracks from his upcoming debut EP abounds with a folky lilt, while managing to keep itself firmly rooted in radio sensibilities. It’s half-way through where the real magic happens though, a haunting, unfolding soundscape of rural wilds and open space. It lingers at the edges of the senses, beautifully elusive. Monsters follows along similar lines, the production twinkling with a quality rare for self-produced efforts. Tender and thoughtful, Powell’s EP feels like it could fit in well alongside the likes of Ben Howard’s recently acclaimed Every Kingdom.
He’s toured with Dragonette and can already boast remixes of Owl City and The XX to his name – but with Eric Solomon’s debut EP, there’s no doubt his eyes are now firmly set on stepping things up to the next gear. Tracks like Addicted brim with a muscular confidence and the promising spark of a potential major male solo star of the future to stand alongside, and perhaps one day even surpass, the likes of Sam Sparro and Adam Lambert.
Likewise, the EP’s lead track Ground Control is the kind of snappy, electrically-charged synth-pop number that could easily give Taio Cruz a run for his money. With a knowing nod to David Bowie’s Space Oddity, it jumps out with a look-at-me attitude and the kind of urban cred designed to grease the palms of radio playlisting committees.
I Found Love riffs off Ace of Bass vibes, but maintains a distinctly modern demeanour, funked up and tooled up with a dancefloor vigour that feels impressively well-rounded for a debut effort. With this kind of consistency already in evidence, it’s no wonder he’s already swayed over 5000 Twitter followers to his cause.
Like us, Vince Kidd is 22 and from South London, but he's also an insanely talented singer - one of those people who possess such soul and depth to their voice they make singing seem as natural as breathing. Signed to Sony and hailed as One To Watch by MTV, things seem to be moving swiftly for Kidd who offers a richer, more personal palate of sounds than any of the man-and-a-guitar types out their at the moment.
No, Kidd is far more in the vein of a male version of Lana Del Rey - stylised in a film-noir aesthetic, a rough-punk street-smarts wisdom that's ingrained in the very essence of songs like the rapturous Smother Me. His controversial Sick Love adds a mattering of urban beats into the mix too, a whirlwind of individualism that leaves you dizzy. Kidd's world is an uncompromising one, but when it comes to budding new singer-songwriters, you'd be hard pushed to find many as inventive as him.
A major talent to watch in the coming year, that's for sure.
As Eurovision fever starts hotting up for another year of thrills and spills, let us introduce likeable Azerbaijani chap Emin. There's a video of him below chatting about recording his album and he comes off as very charming, well mannered and into his music. All positive points for an aspiring solo star, and his music's pretty decent too.
Coming across like a sort of toss up between Enrique Iglesias, The Wanted and Ronan Keating, Emin's music touches a lot of bases but resolutely falls in the firm boundaries of big radio-pleasing pop anthems - whether it be the beautiful piano ballad Dead Roses or synthed-up number Never Enough. Our personal favourite is Walk Through Walls though, which goes for a slightly rockier sound.
The clips in the album teaser vid sound promising, so we'll definitely be looking forward to his interval performance during all the fun and games of this year's big Eurovision show.
These days, there’s so many apparent YouTube sensations flying around, it’s hard to know which ones are actually worth investing time in - but in the case of Miss Ria ’10 million views’ Ritchie, we reckon there’s really some substance behind all the internet buzz.
Taken under the wing of Plan B, she’s since toured with the who’s who of the British urban scene and there’s definitely something special about her, a real ‘wow!’ charm to her plainly apparent talents. At the heart of it all, there’s an impressively good, solid pop voice – the kind that could turn itself to any genre or taste with equal ease. And in debut single Only One, Ritchie goes for the big diva anthem vibe – riding a wall-of-sound wave of thundering percussion and scratchy guitar licks. It’s a towering girl-power record in the gutsiest of ways – this is no dainty doll, she’s all grit and raw passion, the kind that makes you feel every emotion ten-fold.
Plan B co-write Peculiar sounds like early Sugababes – think of Run For Cover or Stronger, that melancholy tinged street-ballad sort of thing crossed with the love-lorn hurt of countless tears and smeared mascara. Meanwhile, free download Blow Back verges on the trippy Katy B pop-dance blend; all delicate vocals and atmospheric beats. If there’s one word to sum up Ritchie, it’s sheer versatility, and to be perfectly honest, the UK could do with another properly good female artist like this to freshen up the market.
She’s rather easy on the eye too, and it’s very easy to imagine her swiftly sky-rocketing into a kind of UK Kelly Clarkson type if she plays her cards right – with the kind of online hysteria she’s already garnered, surely it’s only a matter of time?
We're liking the sound of New York lad Jack Skuller this week - already making lots of waves over in the US and appearing in the likes of Teen Vogue, his cover of Quarrymen classic In Spite of All the Danger is a delightful step back into the past, capturing an unerring essence of cute 50s skiffle pop.
With his slick, smartly dressed looks on his side too, Skuller is undoubtedly the kind of young star who could set young girls' hearts alight at the drop of a hate here in the UK too - but most importantly, he's got the musical chops too. A throwback to the past, but a real potential star for the future.
We like 25 year-old Brixton lass Russo a lot. You know that awkward intermediary period between Christmas and New Year, when we all get back to the hum and grind of daily life? It's when you're desperate for something exciting to break the monotony of the largely house-bound days, and this year, that came in the form of Russo's brilliant free mixtape Lights Are Off.
The Lights Are Off tape comes as a fast-paced collage of electric intensity that excels because it not only sounds genuine, and well-conceived, but chiefly because it's exciting. Contained on Lights Are Off is not just the makings of an up and coming singer, but a handful of pop hooks so brilliantly good they're positively bursting.
The mixtape is also an impressive address-book of connections; there's guest raps from Scrufizzer (who recently featured on Oh My!'s brilliant Dirty Dancer), Sincere and most notably, Dot Rotten; one of the most hyped new-comers for 2012. Lights Are Off is alive with the buzz of what might come from it, it feels alive with a youthful vigour that's not only fundamentally charming, but feels vital and essentially radio-friendly.
You've Changed Me is a grinding, industrial behemoth - another class vocal dripping over a trembling dubstep backing. As with so much of the tape, the track spits attitude, a fuck-you don't-mess-with-me confidence that is alluring powerful for such a new artist. It's there too in Russo's previous single release Fool: 'You want a woman? Then grow up. Cos being dumb seems your occupation. I'm tired of having relations with a dick-head.' - this is a girl you simply don't mess with.
One of her best tracks, We Believed is a headlong collision between old-skool garage influences and sci-fi robo-vocals. It's a simmering, bubbling cauldron of potential that hints at the star burning bright at the heart of Russo. The fierce carpet-burn rawness of Bad Tonight makes for another highlight, and in its fantastic drum'n'bass Shock One remix format has been garnering frequent Radio 1 airplay.
With the British charts never more receptive to urban sounds than they are at the moment, Russo could very well become this year's Katy B - the perfectly balanced go-between bridging the gap between disparate popular tastes and genres. One thing's for sure - Lights Are Off is exceptionally good.
Etta Bond - You'll definitely have heard her; she's the guest vocalist on Wretch 32's brilliant new single Forgiveness. We reckon she's one of the most exciting up and coming singers in the UK right now and having just signed a deal with Labrinth's record label Odd Child, you can count on her making waves in the urban scene in 2012.
For those lured in by the haunting purity and ethereal clarity of Bond's vocals on the Wretch 32 collab, her own material offers more of the same - dark, industrial, pumping constructions of quasi-gothic proportions. It's a heady mix of dance influences and slick, soulful vocals.
Every Dream strikes down to the core of what Etta Bond is all about, her at her very darkest. The beats pierce malevolently into the conscience, all metallic and glistening with the prospect of danger. Every Dream is built on the tantalising counterpoint between the softness of Bond's vocals and the harshness of the music itself. The contrast works a treat.
Ask Me To Stay launches up from shadowy lair on dub-step springs, slapping a flithy bassline across the song's foundations - it's a floorfiller of a scale easily comparable to the stuff currently doing the rounds on the UK club circuit.
And therein lies Bond's real charm, she can do it all: catchy but innovative pop tune, she's on it. Commercial club banger, she's got it sorted. For the girl of many talents, any sound is a new adventure, a new avenue to explore.
Ask Me To Stay and third track - Katy B-esque Come Over - were produced alongside DaVinChe, who Bond is working with on her forthcoming debut album. Going by the sounds of these tracks, it looks set to be one of the most adventurous, engaging urban-pop debuts of 2012. We can't wait to hear more! And if you can't wait, there's a great interview with her on MTV's website to get stuck into in the meantime.
Bajan pop eh? Needless to say, there's one very special lady cornering that market right now, and she goes by the name of Rihanna. But Polydor-signed Cover Drive stand to provide a fresh alternative to 2011's Queen of Pop with their fantastically titled debut single Lick Ya Down.
The track comes on like a close relative of TI's massive hit Live Your Life, all machine-gun beats and chants. Band member Manda takes the lead with the lion's share of the vocals on the track with her three accompanying boys - Barry, Jamar and T Ray - playing guitar, bass and drums respectively.
It's a big, bolshy package, bursting with energy and colour - something that's very much reflected in the frenetic drive of the single itself.
The band also do a very nice cover of J Lo's I'm Into You - all stripped back and acoustic, the track really shines and plays to the best element's of the group's unique style. The phrase 'summery' is thrown around a lot, but for Cover Drive, it feels genuinely earned.
So pull on the shades, soak up the sun, and enjoy... I reckon we're going to be seeing a lot more of these guys over the coming months.
